Bear Caves
by Ramona Bandicoot
Summary: (Request from ANONYMOUS PRINCE and Sequel to Cold Winter Nights.) After a simple walk through the frozen Canadian wilderness to observe the strange patterns of Canada's Aurora Borealis is interrupted by a bear attack, two rival thieves are stuck in an underground bear cave. To escape, they must maneuver their way through a cave filled with slumbering grizzlies without waking them.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own any Sly Cooper characters; they belong to Sucker Punch Productions/Sanzaru Games.

**Claimer:** I own all of my original characters.

**Author's Note:** _Request from ANONYMOUS PRINCE. They requested for a sequel to my story Cold Winter Nights from a while ago. Even though it's a two-shot, I really had fun with that story so I gladly accepted this request! So, even though this isn't posted under it's first story, this is a sequel to Cold Winter Nights. But in other news, I'm still working on both of my full length stories; Return of the Alpha, Threat of the Omega, and What I Am Destined to Become. Both this story and the first will be posted to my FanFiction account, but the second will be posted solely on my FictionPress account. So, anyway, I hope you read, review, and let me know what you think! Thanks! And thank you so much ANONYMOUS PRINCE for the opportunity to write this story!_

Bear Caves

"I don't believe you," I said with a laugh as we walked through the hard Canadian snow at our feet.

"It's true!" Ramona retorted back with a similar laugh, "I don't get that cold!" I shook my head, not believing her claims of being completely warm in subzero temperatures.

"It's freezing!" I shouted back, shoving my paws deep in my jacket pockets to keep them warm, "And you have a jacket on, so you have to be at least a little bit cold." she shook her head, trudging through the deep, hard packed snow.

"I have to blend in, Cooper. I am here to steal and hide from the police, I can't stick out." I rolled my eyes nudging her with my shoulder.

My gang and I were in Canada, tracking down Jean Bison to retrieve the Clockwork talons from him. Currently, he was somewhere in hiding us, giving us a few days break before getting down to work. Ramona was here as well, keeping tabs on the Northern Lights for us and any possible side effects on the local flora and fauna with the new effects caused by the lights' strange behavior. Sure, she was no scientist, but she could be our eyes and ears on the surroundings.

"Anything new?" I asked after a moment of silence. Ramona simply shrugged, brushing her hair from her eyes before speaking.

"Not really, it's all pretty much the same. Some nights the lights are gone, sometimes they're very dim, and then some nights so bright that they light my entire cabin. As for the local wildlife, that's a different story, they're always the same. They're just so angry towards anything that crosses their path and I'm not sure what's going to fix them."

"I don't either. In fact I'm not sure what Jean Bison would gain from collecting the lights."

"Well, considering the lights are just a reaction of the sun's energy hitting our atmosphere, they're the strongest for of natural energy available to us. So whatever he needs that much energy for, must be powerful."

"Since when did you know so much about them Mademoiselle?" she glanced to me, smirking.

"I'm not that dim, Cooper, but I have learned that if you play dumb one tends to draw less attention. Heaven knows I certainly don't need more eyes watching me."

"Indeed you don't," I said nudging her again, "I can't have more competition for your affections, my dear." She snorted a laugh, rolling her eyes playfully.

"You can lay it on thick, can't you?" I returned her laugh, nodding in the process.

"Only for you mademoiselle, only for you." we stopped in our tracks, letting a strong, arctic wind blow past us. We scrunched up in our jackets, tying to protect our exposed flesh from the air. Shaking the cold from our fur, we stood in our tracks, looking up to the sky that was now insanely bright with the colored lights. Pink, blue, and green streaks whipped across the sky, dancing with each other in their wispy nature.

"It's ironic, don't you think? The lights?" Ramona asked as she stepped towards me, looping her arm with mine. I looked down to her, furring my eyebrows together as I tried to understand her target.

"What about them?" she pointed towards the lights with a slender finger and my gaze followed.

"Pink, blue, and green; the colors of the Cooper Gang calling cards. It's ironic that they would match the very people trying to set them straight again." I huffed a laugh, realizing she was right. Murray, Bentley, and I often use those three colors on our calling cards, with mine being blue.

"Well I suppose they do. But, they're missing one and it's the most important one, mind you."

"And what would that be, Cooper?" Ramona rested her head against my arm, tensing slightly against the cold wind.

"Yellow. You simply can't have pink, blue, and green together without having yellow." she glanced up to me, confused at my statement.

"And why is yellow the most important one?" I pulled my arm from hers and faced her. With a soft snap, I opened the top button of her jacket and pushed it to the side. After looping my finger around the neck of her clothing underneath, I brought it up slightly, showing her the yellow sweater she was wearing.

"Because it's your color, Mademoiselle." I whispered as I fixed her jacket. A blush started forming through her fur and I couldn't help but smile.

"Your face is turning red, Ramona, I think you're blushing." she scoffed and ran her fingers across her cheeks.

"It's just the cold, Cooper. I don't blush." I shook my head.

"Just like you don't cold, right?" she became lightly flustered, fumbling over her words.

"Shut up, Sly." she smiled, playfully stomping away. I jogged briefly, catching up with her. We walked through the snow in silence, heading back to our separate hideouts. The snow was practically up to our knees, making travel much harder and longer. Ramona growled, pulling her feet up high to walk.

"This is why I enjoy beaches. No snow. Easy to walk. Warm. And just more enjoyable." she grumbled as she trudged through the dense snow.

"Honestly, Ramona," I said as I tried to make my own way through, "it's not that bad." my attention returned to her briefly, only to see her frozen in place, staring off into space.

My eyes followed her gaze, quickly landing on what had her attention. A large brown bear trudged in our direction, nose to the ground and unaware of our presence. Bears were common around her, but normally they would be deep into hibernation by this point in winter. Apparently this bear was rudely expelled from its cave or didn't get enough to eat before it went to bed. Either way, we didn't want to be around it; especially considering the anger all animals seemed to have because of the lights. Slowly, Ramona's paw reached back for mine while her eyes remained on the bear. I had just touched her fingers to mine with the grumbling grizzly lifted its giant head, his eyes trained on us. After giving the air a quick sniff, the bear stood on its hind legs and opened its muzzle, letting out a deafening roar.

With a tough yank, I pulled Ramona with me through the snow, desperately trying to escape the angered bear. Our labored breaths filled the normally silent Canadian winter as we struggled through the deeper snow and ice. My grip on her wrist was tight and probably painful, but given the circumstances it was probably better than a bear claw to the body. The roar of the brown bear cut through the air, making my ears ring and adrenaline pump faster through my veins. We came to a tree line, one place Jean Bison had left untouched. Seeing it as our only option, I practically dragged the raccoon behind me through the thick pine trees with a hungry bear on our tails.

After struggling through knee high snow, we came to a much thinner patch that was about ankle deep. We scurried much faster, but unfortunately so did the bear. Ramona still lagged behind me and the bear was dangerously close. We came to a small clearing with few trees. I tugged her harder, trying to get her far away from the bear. I felt her grab me tightly as we ran and panting heavily. It was hard to run in the cold, the air we inhaled froze our lungs, making their intake significantly less. Ramona screamed and fell, but still had my grasp. The bear had lunged, snagging her boot with a claw, and both crashed to the ground. Before I could pull her back up, there were snaps and cracks under our feet and before I could register what was happening, the ground beneath us gave way and the three of us fell to the coming cave beneath.

The grizzly fell straight to the bottom, roaring and screaming as it crashed into the darkness below. Ramona held on solely by clutching to my arm and paw, as I kept the two of us suspended. I used my cane to latch onto a looped root of a nearby tree, keeping us dangled above the unknown darkness below. We held on tightly, trying to regain our shaky breathing. The roars of the bear stopped, telling me that something bad had happened. Ramona tensed as she slipped to just my paw.

"Hold on, Ramona." I said as I tried to pull us both up. She tried to climb up and each something as well, but she slipped more, falling from my grasp into the void below. A small crack, followed by a piercing scream, filled the area below me.

"Ramona!" I shouted after her screamed died down. She was silent for a long while and I feared the worst.

"I'm alright!" She groaned, "I just broke something…or something broke me!" Well, she still had a sense of humor.

"Is there a safe place for me to land down there? We can't afford to have both of us down!" I clutched my cane tightly, waiting for her response.

"Yeah I think so! The bear landed on some of the rocks down here but I'm in a flat space! I just landed the wrong way!"

"I'm on my way!" I shouted down to her. Sure, jumping down into the cave would leave us both stuck down there with the possibility of not being able to get out, but I couldn't leave her down there; especially with an angry bear and an injured leg.

With a grunt, I swung my cane and disconnected it from the root. With finesse and agility, I landed lightly on the ground below. The drop wasn't huge, but was certainly deep enough to make rescue difficult. It was pitch black down here and certainly colder than it was above. I looked up at the hole we'd fallen through, using the little bit of light to find Ramona on the ground. She was a few feet away, sprawled out on her back with one leg twisted underneath her. I crouched next to her, placing a paw on her shoulder. She tried to sit up, only go back down with an agonizing groan.

"Stay there for a minute, Ramona," I told her softly, "I'm going to go make sure the bear is down, then we need to get a fire or something going so we can see what we're doing. Then I'll take a look and see how bad the damage is." she nodded, simply remaining on the ground. I stood, slowly making my way to where the bear lay, pierced by a spear of rock. I gently tapped its foot, making sure it wouldn't move. Even though it tried to kill us, I felt sorry for the bear; never wanting it to perish. I stepped away from the bear, knowing that I had to find some kind of wood to build a fire with. As I made my way back to Ramona, I picked up a few pieces but not enough to build a sustainable fire to keep us warm and give us enough light to do anything.

"You just can't sit still, can you?" I asked Ramona as I came back. In that brief amount of time, she scooped a few rocks into a circle with a few pieces of wood and flammable objects into the middle of it.

"Nope," she said with a pain filled smile, "I never can." I tossed the pieces I had found into the pile before sitting next to her. Having lived on the streets for years as a teenager and young adult, Ramona was practically an expert on minimal survival. It took her only seconds to get a spark into the kindling she found and within minutes of her blowing gently onto the embers, we had a blazing fire going. She warmed her delicate hands by the fire while I moved to her foot.

"This may hurt," I told her as I gently took her right foot into my grasp. I took time to slowly unlace her boot laces, not wanting to upset her injured ankle.

Being in the middle of the Canadian winter, she traded her jeans and bare feet for cargo pants, a parka, and combat boots. So, working a possibly broken foot out of them wasn't going to be easy. After the boots were unlaced, I pulled the sides open to gingerly pull her foot from the boot. With a loud hiss and a groan coming from Ramona, I managed to pull the boot from her already swollen and throbbing ankle. I pulled down her sock and overlooked her bare ankle. I pressed it in certain places and tried to bend it normally, but each move ended in horrible pain for Ramona.

"I hate to say it," I told her as I replaced her sock to its previous position, "but it's broken."

"Then do you want to find a way out of here and come back, and I'll just wait here until-"

"I'm not leaving you down here. You're in no shape to go walking around trying to get out of here."

"Then what do you propose we do, Cooper? Just sit here all night?" I sat down fully, lacing up her boots before answering.

"Yes." I said simply, "It's getting dark outside and we're both exhausted. We can camp out here for the night and then look for a way out in the morning." she sighed, but eventually nodded.

"Then we're going to need to stay warm." Ramona said as she reached for her bag. She pulled out two blankets and tossed one to me.

"You always carry these around?" I asked after catching the blanket.

"One can never be too careful." she said with a smile. She spread the thinner of the two blankets on the ground, smoothing it out slowly. She sat herself on the blanket, inviting me to sit with her.

It was dark out, making the cave even darker than it already was. I sat next to Ramona, covering us both with the thicker blanket. I stretch out on the blanket, using Ramona's bag as a pillow. She rested her head on my chest and curled up against me. I rubbed her back slowly, looking up at the hole above us.

"It looks like there was a thin sheet of rock covering it," Ramona said softly, "then was covered by ice and snow. Then when the weight of the bear hit it, it just collapsed."

"You're probably right," I told her, "but why is it here?" she looked up to me, wincing in pain.

"It's more than likely an old bear cave; given the size, depth, and remoteness. It's perfect for bears to sleep in for the winter."

"So, there must be a way out of here then." she thought for a moment, thinking.

"Bear caves are normally networks of connected caves. There should be some kind of passage to a connecting cave or at least an exit. Granted, the trick is knowing if the opposite cave has sleeping bears inside." she yawned, curling up next to me. Although it seemed like it had been only a few minutes since we'd fallen in this pit, it was now deep into the night and the temperatures were at their coldest. The fire beside us was dying down and Ramona had already drifted off to sleep. She faced me as she slept, her gentle breathing being exhaled from her nose onto my chest. I smiled, pulling her close to me and wrapping the blanket tightly around us. She emitted her own warmth onto my chest, making us not completely warm, but comfortable enough for us to get a decent nights sleep.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ramona shifted, waking me from my half slumber. It was early morning and sunlight was just pouring in through the mouth of the hole we'd tumbled through. I stretched as best as I could, considering that Ramona was clinging tightly to me. I brushed the hair from her face, looking at her sleeping form. She was a peaceful sleeper, never really moving in her sleep. I kissed her forehead softly and got ready to go back to sleep for a while until something caught my eye. Behind Ramona, there was a small opening, slightly illuminated by the sunlight. It was just small enough for us to crawl through and would hopefully lead to another cave or an exit.

"Ramona," I whispered, shaking her gently. She groaned, swatting my paw from her. After a few minutes of trying to wake the sleeping raccoon, she groggily opened her eyes and rolled onto her back, stretching. She groaned when she moved her ankle and hissed when she touched it.

"What?" she asked gruffly. Ramona certainly wasn't a morning person and took some time to fully wake up.

"I think I found a way out of here," she perked up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning again. I pointed to the cave and she nodded, agreeing that it could be a way out. Within minutes, we had picked up the blankets and extinguished the fire. Ramona placed the bag around her shoulder and attempted to stand. With a scream and scowl, she collapsed, clutching her ankle.

"I can't walk," she said through gritted teeth. I got beside her, wrapping one of her arms around my neck and using one of mind to hold onto her waist. I used my body as a crutch to support her as we walked to the tunnel and through it. By the time we reached the end of it, Ramona was already tired. But we soon realized that we had our work cut out for us. She pressed a finger to her lips, signaling for silence, as we noticed that the cave was filled with huge, sleeping bears. On the opposite side of the circular cave, there was another opening with a glint of sunlight at the end. It seemed like a rather simple task, but the room was filled with not only brown bears, but thin, crackly ice that would certainly alert the bears if it was stepped on. We would have to weave our way through the cave of bears, but have to do it silently.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I lead a limping Ramona around the sleeping grizzlies and the patches of crackly ice. We walked slowly, giving her a chance to easily maneuver through the den. Briefly, I stopped her, pointing to the ice at our feet. I slowly mouthed, "Don't step on the ice," and she nodded, understanding that if we stepped on it, then the bears would wake. Ramona and I walked, step by step, through the cave. Her paw clothed tightly to mine, not wanting her unsteady walk to set her off balance and doom us both. The cave was a circle and we had started in the back. The front entrance to the cave was on the other side of the circle. We'd gone right, with it being the clearest path to take, and were about halfway through the circle.

With a silent cry, she collapsed, clutching her ankle. I ducked down with her, helping her back to her unsteady feet to finish the journey. She wiped a small tear from her eye before she limped to the entrance. Well…almost the entrance. Standing between us and the entrance to the cave was a wide strip of ice. Normally, we could make that jump easily, and I still could, but Ramona was in not shape to jump. I could carry her, but I couldn't jump with her, we'd be too heavy. From what I could see, there was only one possible way to get over, but we would still risk being heard. I propped Ramona up against a wall as I made the quick leap over the patch. Turning back, I held my paws out to her. If I could grab her underneath her arms, I could quickly hoist her over the ice and we could leave.

I was able to reach her upper arms and gripped them tightly. With a deep breath, she jumped with her good foot and I hauled her up. She came so close to not cracking the ice that I was almost relieved, but sadly her broken ankle landed harshly on the ice, making it crack and a cry escape her throat. I yanked her over to me and clamped a paw over her mouth. We stood on the ground, waiting for the bears to rip us open. I tensed as a large bear lifted its head, snout to the air. It gave a low grumble and stood partially, its great legs shaking. It turned, facing us, but sat back down, its eyes closed. The bear resumed its sleep and everything else was completely silent.

Not wanting to risk being caught I guided Ramona to the opening of the cave and shoved her through. I crawled behind her, feeling my way through the narrow opening of the bear cave. After a few minutes of crawling, we made our way to the outside, bathing in the warmth of the sunlight. Ramona crawled from the opening, but stayed seated, clutching her ankle in pain. I sat down beside her, holding her tightly until she was well enough to move again.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

With both sighed deeply, exhausted from the long walk and incident in general. With a grunt, I managed to get the front door open while still supporting Ramona and her limp foot. From the bear cave opening, Ramona clutched onto me as I helped her walk the three miles to her cabin; stopping often to let the pain ease in her ankle. With a bit of struggle, given the cramped nature of her small cabin, we finally managed to make it to her long window bench, flopping down with a huff. When we landed, she was against me, her back and head resting on my chest as she hoisted her throbbing ankle up on the padded bench. I relaxed, leaning against the edge of the window and putting my arm on the sill, letting Ramona's head nestle its way in the crook created by my arm.

"Why is it that we can never have an easy day?" she asked after a long silence.

"Don't know," I said simply, "you just like to get into trouble." she sent an elbow to my abdomen, making me hunch slightly with the blow.

After I readjusted, I looked out the window, getting a perfect view of the wildly whipping Aurora Borealis. These were different from the ones of yesterday, however. This time, a bright streak of yellow flicked around the sky, darting in and out of the blue streak. No matter where the blue went, the yellow would follow. Flowing in and around, underneath and above the dark blue waves. Ramona noticed this as well, as her eyes were transfixed on the sky above.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of hint?" I asked her with a tap on the head. She rotated her head, letting her eyes pierce into mine instead of the sky.

"Yeah," she said with a coy smile, "it means that you won't be able to get rid of me." I smiled, leaning down so our noses met.

"Good." I pressed my lips against her soft ones, losing myself in her touch underneath the beautiful, dancing lights above.


End file.
